


take some time and learn to breathe

by CarbonFootprint



Series: Leokumi Week 2016 [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst, Blood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Kidnapping, Leokumi Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 13:05:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6805864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarbonFootprint/pseuds/CarbonFootprint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It became obvious then; he had been kidnapped, taken away from Castle Krakenburg, and probably because he was a Hoshidan Prince, a foreign Hoshidan presence in Nohr that everyone hated. He also knew he wouldn't be able to get out. He didn't have a weapon. He was completely immobilized. He had no idea where he was."</p><p>Takumi is kidnapped and realizes just how deep Nohrian hatred for Hoshido runs, and he also realizes something for himself pertaining to Prince Leo.</p><p>For the Leokumi week day 2 prompt 'foreign'!</p>
            </blockquote>





	take some time and learn to breathe

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't have anything to write for the prompts today and this idea had been milling about in my head for a while and when I was prompted to on twitter (by Brenda/@0oMFDo0) to write it... I could resist ;u; 
> 
> I really do hurt Takumi way too much, but my fic tomorrow will be far more light-hearted! <3
> 
> Enjoy the sad!

Nohr was a strange place in Takumi’s opinion. The food was weird, the architecture was confusing, the weather was miserable, and the people hated him.

That was the worst part.

Ryoma and Xander had agreed that he could be a valuable asset to Nohr’s rebuilding after the war so he had been sent to Castle Krakenburg for several months.

And it didn’t take more than a few weeks for him to realize that Nohrians _hated_ him with a passion.

Leo had taken him to the lower town after a few days to see some parts of Nohr and they had been verbally accosted by several of the people. If they knew he was a Hoshidan Prince or not, they didn’t seem to care. They hated him for the war, hated his kingdom and his siblings, hated his presence in the world.

It hurt to be that greatly disliked by the people who were supposed to be allies of Hoshido, and when Leo asked him if he wanted to go out again, he had declined. He couldn’t take the pressure of being so deeply disliked by people who could get to him verbally and physically. Leo had understood and instead they had stayed inside the castle, quietly discussing policy and history in the library.

After two months, the hatred hadn’t from Nohr’s people died down, but the force of it on his life had started to dull under Leo’s friendship. There was always something between them; they both could feel it during the war, and now the the fighting was over, they could finally act on their desires.

But they didn’t rush into anything, and after two months they had only exchanged a handful of embarrassing kisses and only held hands when they were completely alone.

They had yet to even discuss what they had, and even if Takumi wanted to, he couldn’t exactly do that from whatever place he was in currently.

Takumi woke up slowly, disoriented and in pain.

For a second, he wondered if he had fallen asleep in the library in Castle Krakenburg, but he could tell that wasn't the case as soon as some of his senses came back to him.

He felt cloth over his eyes and tied into his mouth. His head ached badly and he groaned quietly, trying to move his arms and legs only to find that rough ropes kept his limbs bound to the chair in which he was sitting. His thoughts were foggy and he figured whomever had taken him to this place had drugged him, knocked him out judging from the pain in his head, and then tied him up in some sort of cell.

"Looks like you're awake then," a voice sounded in the fog of his mind and he jerked his head towards the sound, whimpering when the gash in his head ached, "Whoa, slow down there, your highness," the voice sneered, "You're gonna be here a while. Might as well get comfortable." He felt panic rise into his chest at the crude sound of the voice. The man sounded obviously Nohrian, his voice clipped with the same uncultured accent Takumi had only heard when Leo had taken him to the underground markets.

It became obvious then; he had been kidnapped, taken away from Castle Krakenburg, and probably because he was a Hoshidan Prince, a foreign Hoshidan presence in Nohr that everyone hated. He also knew he wouldn't be able to get out. He didn't have a weapon. He was completely immobilized. He had no idea where he was.

Imprisoned. That was the word for his position. Even if he mustered the strength to somehow free himself, there was nowhere he could go. With how foggy his mind was, he didn't even think he could maneuver his way out of the room he was in, if it was even a room.

"I thought you'd put up more than a fight to be honest," the man in the room sighed, catching his attention again, "I've experienced my own share of Hoshidan savagery enough times."

"Did I tell you that you could speak to him?" A new voice entered the room, deeper in tone, annoyed by not angry. Judging from his words, a man in a higher position.

"N-no, boss, I'm sorry," the first man stammered and there was the shuffling of feet on the ground. The sound faded rather than heightened. The first man was moving away while the boss was coming closer, the sound of his boots on the floor precise and even.

"How nice to have you with us, Prince Takumi," the leader said. Up close, Takumi could hear the low, clear way he spoke, and it was enough to make him shudder as a sudden chill went through him, "Oh? Are you frightened?" The leader laughed, "How pathetic."

He felt a gloved palm against his cheek then, smacking his head to the side, leaving him dazed. The same gloved hand grasped his jaw, pulling him forward a bit before the blindfold was ripped away. The light of the room blinded him even though it was dim, and combined with the burning pain in his cheek and the taste of blood in his mouth, it was a wholly uncomfortable experience. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, blinking several times before he forced his gaze away, not even wanting to deign the leader with a look up at him.

"You're supposed to look at someone when they're addressed you," the man said, his fingers tightening their hold on his jaw, giving him a shake, "Look at me."

He forced himself to move his eyes up then. He swallowed hard, terrified of the strength the man had in just the hand holding him. Those fingers could slip south, tighten around his throat, crush the air from entering his lungs, kill him.

The man had a thin face, sunken cheekbones and dark, haunting eyes. He was dressed well, maybe some sort of Nohrian noble, but Takumi didn’t have the time to think on it right then.

"That's better," the leader hummed snidely, his fingers loosening a bit before he felt the smooth leather of the leader’s glove ghosting over his face, eventually reaching the gash he knew was in his forehead, "Oh, that looks like it hurts, hm?" He waited a beat before the hand came down on his cheek again, slapping him twice before fingers tightened around his throat, "It is customary to answer when a question is asked of you," the leader snarled, his voice level and cool despite the trembling rage in his fingers, "Answer."

Takumi forced his throat to work despite the hand gripping tight around it, making a quiet sound he hoped sounded like an answer of some sort. The grip on his throat disappeared after that and he sucked in a hurried breath through his nose.

"That's better, much better," the man said and Takumi saw a smile spread over his lips, "I would guess that your Nohrian hosts have found that you're missing by now. Such a shame. They must be quite worried, don't you think?"

It took him a moment to realize the man was waiting for an answer so he gave a short nod of his head, not wanting to feel fingers gripping around his throat again. He could tell that some bruises had already formed from when he was initially taken; he had faint memories of a hand grasping around his throat before the drug-induced darkness came, and surely there would now be more on top of that.

"Now, what do you think they'll do? Will they... Write to your filthy Hoshidan siblings and tell them that they lost you? Will they try and find you quickly? Will they ignore it? Perhaps you're not even that vital to Nohrian royalty. Either way, when Hoshido finds out that their second high prince has been taken on Nohrian soil, who will they blame? You, their own prince, or the kingdom that had been their enemy longer than have been friends? Likely the latter."

He watched leader's boots walking away from him and he relaxed a bit in his bounds, trying to force his trembling to stop.

"Make sure Prince Takumi is well taken care of," the leader said before he left the room. Takumi felt his blood run cold at that. He could hear that there were others in the room hidden in dark corners from their breathing, the sound of their feet on the ground.

He wanted to go home.

But home wasn't Nohr or Hoshido anymore he realized.

Home was where Leo was. He wanted Leo. He wanted to be back in Nohr, holding hands with Leo as they read books in the library, exchanging soft kisses over a chess board. He wanted to go home to Leo.

Leo.

Leo would find him. He had to. There was no way Leo would allow him to just be gone. Leo would search for him, find him, and take him home. Everything would be fine then.

He heard someone approaching him then and a man appeared from the dark, reaching and grabbing him by a handful of his hair, "Damn, he sure is pretty," the man sneered, "Even with blood on his face."

"Oi! Don't get ahead of yourself," another voice called, "You're not supposed to fuck him. Just rough him up a little for the boss."

"I know that," the man let go of his hair roughly, before grabbing him by the chin to tie the blindfold around his eyes again, "He'd probably enjoy it though." There was laughter in the room after that and the sound of it made him tremble in fear. He had never been in a situation like this before. He had always thought he was safe inside the places he could call home, safe inside the Nohrian castle even if he was disliked on the outside of it. Evidentially, he wasn't safe. He had been taken away and now held captive by people who obviously wished for hostilities against Hoshido. If they meant to hurt Nohr, they could have waited and taken Leo, or Elise, used them as leverage to get to Xander.

That wasn't their goal obviously. They wanted him. They revered Nohr. They wouldn't stop at injuring him to get what sick satisfaction they desired from his imprisonment.

He could hear one of the men pacing around him for a long moment before they left the room, the sound of a heavy door slamming filling his ears. Alone, he allowed himself to relax. His head ached badly, his jaw hurt from the position the gag held it in, and his throat throbbed from the force of the fingers that had squeezed around it. He could feel were his wrists were already rubbed raw from the ropes holding them in place.

It hurt. He wanted to go home.

No one reentered the room for a while and that gave him time to try to figure out his surroundings. The room was damp and cold, he realized, and he was only wearing pants and the thin tunic he had been wearing when he was taken from...

He couldn’t remember, his mind still too addled with the effects of the drug in his system. The more he tried to remember what had happened, the more his head ached. He shivered then in the dark, wishing even more to be back with Leo, that this was just one of his nightmares.

He could hear water dripping in the dark from somewhere in the room, but he couldn't discern if he was above ground or underground or if there was any possible way he could get out.

He forced himself to relax, to save his energy in case he needed it to escape. He knew where the door to the room was. If given the chance, he could try and run out, but where to after that? Outside of his cell was uncharted territory. He couldn't just run without any sort of weapon.

He couldn't just wait either. He wanted Leo to find him, but he also wanted to get out as fast as possible.

The door opened a little while later and he heard the sound of the leader's boots walking clearly against the floor again.

"Nice to see you again, your highness," he laughed, and Takumi felt his fingers hooking in the cloth of his gag, pulling the article away from his mouth. He coughed, swallowed to try and help his dry tongue, worked his jaw to try force away the dull muscle ache, "Glad to see you're comfortable," the boss continued, "I need something from you now though." He could hear the sound of paper being moved and he pressed his lips into a firm line, refusing to even deign the man with a response.

"You see," the man hummed, "These letters to your filthy Hoshidan family and our own royalty would be far better received with a souvenir." He felt it then, the smooth, flat edge of a blade stroking over his cheek, the point of it skirting lightly down his neck before a hand reached out and grabbed a long lock of his hair, cutting cleanly through it to a length that barely reached his shoulder. He swallowed hard, breathing out slowly in relief. The knife could have done so much worse. He could grow his hair back, and hide such a small shortened piece easily in his ponytail.

"Now, I've heard that in Hoshidan culture it is an act of dishonor to cut one's hair," the leader said slowly and Takumi could hear his boots pacing slowly around him, "Wouldn't it be a shame if I were to just slice off all your pretty hair, Prince Takumi?" He pressed his lips into a thin line, refusing to respond but unable to stop the tremble of fear that went through him, "Come now, we talked about this," the leader sighed in exasperation before the same gloved hand was twisting in his hair, jerk his head back so the flat blade of the knife could press against the delicate skin as his throat, "You answer when someone asks something of you."

"A-ah!" He gasped when his hair was jerked harder and the knife's tip nicked a small cut into his skin, "It- i-it would be a shame," he forced out, hating the tremble in his own voice. There was laughter in the room from farther away and he felt tears burning in his eyes under the blindfold.

"Better, that's better," the leader said easily, releasing his hold on his hair. The knife slid away from his throat as the leader walked around to his front again. It was quiet for a long moment before the knife plunged into his shoulder.

He screamed despite his will not to as the knife sliced into his shoulder, ripping from his flesh a minute later to let blood start to flow from the wound. The man with the knife didn't stop there, easily slashing open the rest of his shirt, leaving shallow cuts as he did so. He could feel his shoulder throbbing as incredible pain flowed from the wound. A hand came down on the injury, squeezing it hard to force for blood to flow faster. He cried out again, sobbing as the tears in his eyes dampened the blindfold. He felt the paper being pressed to the wound, soaking up his blood before it was drawn away.

"I'm sure your siblings will appreciate this letter," the leader hummed, "It's so red now. I hope they're able to make out the writing." There was more laughter in the room before someone shoved the chair he was tied to hard, sending it crashing to the ground. His head collided with the hard stone floor and he could feel the gash in his skin breaking open again, fresh blood staining his face as his shoulder throbbed.

"Do with him what you will," the leader said with nonchalance in his tone, "Just don't kill him yet."

A booted foot collided with his chest, kicking him hard and then repeatedly. There was laughter in the room, echoing around him, flooding through his ears mixed with his eventual whimpers and quiet sobs. He hated that he couldn’t keep his sounds inside. He had screamed for them, cried out at the pain. He had shown weakness to the enemy and that made him a disgrace, a pathetic excuse for a Prince of Hoshido.

The kicking subsided after a while before he was grabbed and cut free from the chair. His wrists were still bound with the rough rope, but he could hear the chair being thrown to the side as he lay on the dirty ground.

Icy water was thrown over him, searing inside the wounds in his flesh and he clenched his teeth together, refusing to scream yet again. He was thoroughly soaked, freezing and trembling in the already cold cell as the men around him laughed, leaving the room with a slam of the door.

No one came in for a long time after that, leaving him shivering on the floor of the cell, too weakened and disoriented to move. He didn’t know how long he was alone or even how long he had already been there.

Eventually when they did return, it was to feed him. They hauled him up off the ground and someone held him from behind, prying his jaw open before water was poured into his mouth. He drank it because he was thirsty, too thirsty, and he knew he had to keep his strength up if he was going to even hope to get out. They shoved pieces of stale bread into his mouth, making sure he had swallowed everything before dropping him to the ground again and leaving the room.

He allowed himself to cry alone in the dark, pitiful sobs leaving his throat as he tried desperately to think of a beneficial outcome. He couldn’t think of anything but his impending death in this place. The injury to his shoulder had soaked what was left of his shirt with sticky blood, and whenever he tried to sit up he only felt lightheaded because of it.

He didn’t see the leader again for a while. The only people that came to see him were the men who forced him to eat everyone now and then before driving a few more kicks to his gut.

By the time the leader did come back, he could barely stay conscious for more than a little while, his body too weakened by the lack of food, the blood loss, and the pain. The man tried to speak to him, but he couldn’t hear him over the pounding in his head so he was left alone, laying in the cold cell with only his barely-lucid thoughts to accompany him.

He just wanted to go home. He wanted to see Ryoma and Hinoka and Sakura. He wanted to lay in his own bed and eat miso soup and train with Hinata and Oboro.

He wanted to go to Leo and tell him just how much the other boy meant to him. They had been too slow, too careful when they should have been fast and in love and closer than the shy kisses and careful hand holding.

An explosion brought him out of his semi-consciousness an indeterminate amount of time later and he blinked behind the blindfold that had yet to be removed from his eyes. Were they finally going to kill him? Were they going to bring the place down on top of him and leave him to be crushed to death in the rubble?

He couldn’t help the tears that started in his eyes, dampening the blindfold yet again. He was going to die without seeing his siblings, without telling Leo he loved him, without doing anything with his life. He could hear the sounds of people running and yelling outside the cell mixed with cries of pain. He curled in on himself as much as possible, hiding his face in his loose hair all around him as if that would shield him from anything.

The wood that made up the door to the room made a splintering sound before the door was smashed open.

“Takumi!”

Warmth bled into his cold body when someone touched him, cradling him close as the blindfold was gently pulled away and the ropes around his raw wrists were cut.

“Takumi, can you hear me?” The same frantic voice spoke again and fingers caressed his cheek, urging him to open his eyes.

“Leo, how is he?” A deeper voice… Leo’s name. That meant- the person holding him was-

He forced his eyes open, blinking groggily up at the familiar face of the blond mage he had been desperate to see for however long he had been captured.

“Leo?” he whispered before he could help himself. His voice brought Leo’s gaze back down to him from where he had been looking to the source of the other voice.

“Takumi,” Leo soothed, his fingers stroking his cheek so carefully, “Everything is alright now. You’re going to be okay. We’re going to take you somewhere safe and you’ll be just fine. Everything is over.” Leo’s words were entering his head, but they weren’t quite registering. He couldn’t be safe. He was still in pain.

He didn’t know if this Leo was even real. Maybe his mind invented him. He was exhausted enough to make up Leo there for him, warming him, holding him close.

But if that was a fake Leo or the real one, he couldn’t take anymore chances.

“I love you, Leo,” he murmured out before he could stop himself, “I love you and I- I-I never… told you. I’m sorry.”

“Okay,” Leo said, and Takumi could hear the crack of tears in his voice as he was being moved, lifted off the ground in Leo’s arms, “That’s good. I-I love you too, Takumi. And I’m going to take care of you now, alright? Everything is going to be okay.” Leo’s voice was shaky and sorrowful, but he returned his affection. That was all Takumi needed really.

“Can you carry him, Leo?” The other voice was back again, deeper than Leo’s and sounding almost like Xander’s voice.

Was this real? Had they truly come to rescue him?

Did Leo love him too?

He felt too weak to think about it anymore. As Leo carried him away from that place, cradled close into the warmth of his chest, he allowed his eyes to slip shut and his mind to go black.

* * *

 

“Why hasn’t he woken up yet?”

“His injuries were bad, milord, along with the malnutrition and the conditions-”

“I don’t _care_. I came here from Hoshido as soon as I was told that my little brother was found. I expected Nohr to have competent healers.”

“Ryoma, it’s not the fault of the healers. If anything, it’s _my_ fault for not finding him sooner.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Xander. I should have never sent him to Nohr in the first place, not with how the relations between our people have been lately.”

The hushed conversation was what greeted Takumi’s ears as he slowly woke up. He could tell he was in a bed, but the softness of the mattress and blankets around him felt foreign after spending so long on a cold, stone floor. He shifted a bit under the covers, groaning as he forced his eyes open under the strain of his tired body. He was in Nohr clearly, but the sound of his brother’s voice made his heart ache less for home.

“Ryoma?” He called out his brother’s name softly and the whispering near the door stopped short.

“Takumi?” Ryoma was coming towards him, leaning over him in the bed, “You’re awake... Thank Gods,” he breathed, bowing his head then, “I am so sorry this happened, Takumi. I should have _never_ sent you to Nohr.”

“It’s alright,” Takumi said as quickly as he could simply because he hated seeing Ryoma so low, blaming himself for what had happened.

“It’s not,” Ryoma sighed, “But as long as you’re still here, as long as you get better.” Takumi nodded slowly, still far too exhausted to truly comprehend the entire situation. He looked behind Ryoma and saw Xander standing there, and behind Xander stood Leo, his face a stark, terrified white and his eyes wide with worry.

“Leo,” he murmured out, trying to extend his arm only to find it immobilized by a sling.

Right. The leader had stabbed him there. He looked up from his shoulder back at Leo, silently begging him to come closer. Leo only stared at him, his face filled with so much fear, and then the other prince turned and ran, and he didn’t have the strength to cry out for him to come back.

In his exhaustion, he let his eyes slip shut, wishing it was Leo at his side rather than his brother.

The next two times Takumi woke up, Leo still kept his distance, standing small and unobtrusive no closer to him than the doorway. It was infuriating, but Takumi couldn’t find it in himself to get mad. Leo was obviously scared. If he hadn’t imagined the words they had spoken when he had been saved, then Leo was in love with him, and Leo almost lost him just as he almost lost Leo in return.

The healers changed his bandages every day, exposing his bruised and sliced torso to the cold air as they cleaned the wounds, spread new medicines over them, and then bound his injuries in white once more.

The fifth time his bandages were being changed, Leo passed by the door and actually stopped, watching him with wide, horrified eyes.

“Leo,” he called desperately, wincing as the healers started to coat his injuries in salve once again, “Leo please… It hurts.” He saw the way Leo’s throat bobbed, and his eyes became a bit glassy then before he slowly walked into the room. The healers dutifully ignored the both of them so Takumi extended the hand that wasn’t being bound back in the sling to the other prince.

Leo shakily reached out, grasping his hand in his own and Takumi gave him a shaky smiled before he winced again, squeezing down on Leo’s fingers as the salve stung in some of his deeper cuts. Leo didn’t speak, but he didn’t pull his hand away, keeping it held tightly around his own.

When the healers left, he sighed softly, leaning back into the pillows with his torso throbbing from the medicine.

“I’m sorry,” Leo’s voice finally came and Takumi looked over to him to see the other prince’s eyes filled with rare tears, his eyebrows furrowed together in distress, “I should have found you. I should have- protected you. Xander said that being your guide in Nohr was my responsibility and I- I _failed_ you, Takumi.” Takumi heard his voice crack, breaking with all the pent of guilt and fear as the tears in his eyes fell down his cheeks.

“Leo, you didn’t do this to me” Takumi said quietly, tugging the other boy’s hand to get him to come closer, “Nohrians that are not worthy of being associated with your kingdom, they’re the ones who- who did this to me.”

“I should have found you sooner!” Leo’s voice raised, a fire in his eyes despite the tears, “I should have fought harder! I should have figured out where you were and then not waited for Xander to devise a plan while you rotted in that cell,” he choked out, his shoulder’s trembling with the force of his pent up sobs, “I should have found you before you had to stay in that place for two weeks… And I- I should have told you I loved you a long time ago, but I was a coward and I- I still am because I’m so terrified of losing you.” Leo’s words broke off into quiet sobs then, his head hanging as his body shook with the pitiful sounds.

“You didn’t lose me though,” Takumi swallowed, “I’m right here, and I- all I could think about when I was in that place was- was coming back to you, and telling you that I love you. Please don’t run anymore. I’m not dying, and I’m not leaving you. I promise.”

“I couldn’t bear with th-the thought of-” Leo tried to say, but Takumi shushed him quickly, giving his hand as strong of a tug as he could muster.

“Don’t keep carrying the blame for this,” he said insistently, “I just want- I want you besides me now. Please stay at my side until I’m healed, and then the rest of the time after that… Please.” Truthfully, it had been hard to sleep with the memories of the cell, but if Leo was at his side, he was sure those fears would be subdued a bit.

“As long as you want me with you,” Leo pushed himself up onto the bed, pressing close to his side, “Then I’ll never leave.”

“Good,” Takumi hummed in contentment, leaning his head into the warmth of Leo’s chest, “In that case, you’ll be here forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'M SORRY FEEL FREE TO YELL AT ME FOR BEING SO CRUEL TO TAKUMI ;;;n;;;
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope everyone is enjoying Leokumi week! <3
> 
> Thank you for any kudos or comments (even the ones that are just incoherent screaming those are some of my faves <333) 
> 
> I'll be back with Tuesday's fic tomorrow! Please in the meantime go check out Brenda's twitter @0oMFDo0!!! She draws super super super cute Takumi arts I love them they're so cute I love ;u;
> 
> As always you can find me on twitter @leokuumi and tumblr at carbonfootprintao3.tumblr.com


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